Water Balloon Sensory Bin

 

I’m always delighted by how much N gets out of the simplest activities. This time, I made him a Water Balloon Sensory Bin.

I simply filled a few balloons with water, put them into a plastic box with a little extra water – and he had so much fun with it! As usual, he thought of ways to interact with the materials that I would never have come up with.

 

Simple Toddler Play: My son had a blast with this water balloon sensory bin! (Don't tell anyone, but my older preschooler was intrigued, too ;) )

(N was 1 year and 4 months old.)

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Materials for Water Balloon Sensory Bin

  • Colorful balloons. {Actual water balloons break too easily. That may be a good thing if that’s what you’re going for, but I wanted my toddler to be able to safely explore the balloons for a longer period of time. Please note that broken balloons pose a choking risk.}
  • Shoe box sized storage bin.
  • Water.
  • Empty bowl (optional).

 

N enjoyed grabbing

 

Simple Toddler Play: My son had a blast with this water balloon sensory bin! (Don't tell anyone, but my older preschooler was intrigued, too ;) )

 

and squeezing the balloons.

 

Simple Toddler Play: My son had a blast with this water balloon sensory bin! (Don't tell anyone, but my older preschooler was intrigued, too ;) )

 

They were sturdy enough to withstand quite a bit of abuse.

 

Simple Toddler Play: My son had a blast with this water balloon sensory bin! (Don't tell anyone, but my older preschooler was intrigued, too ;) )

 

One by one, he picked up all the water balloons from the sensory bin and threw/dropped them into the empty bowl. I was impressed with his aim 😉

 

Simple Toddler Play: My son had a blast with this water balloon sensory bin! (Don't tell anyone, but my older preschooler was intrigued, too ;) )

 

When he’d finally removed all of the balloons from the sensory bin, N spent some time playing with the water.

Splashing is always his favorite way of doing that 🙂

 

Simple Toddler Play: My son had a blast with this water balloon sensory bin! (Don't tell anyone, but my older preschooler was intrigued, too ;) )

 

Afterward, he reversed the process he’d used earlier: He picked up the balloons from the bowl and tossed them into the water in the sensory bin, delighted by the splash each of them made.

 

Simple Toddler Play: My son had a blast with this water balloon sensory bin! (Don't tell anyone, but my older preschooler was intrigued, too ;) )

 

He tried his old trick of babbling into the bowl – still hilarious 🙂

 

Simple Toddler Play: My son had a blast with this water balloon sensory bin! (Don't tell anyone, but my older preschooler was intrigued, too ;) )

 

After this, he finally decided to just go ahead and dump the water from the sensory bin.

 

Simple Toddler Play: My son had a blast with this water balloon sensory bin! (Don't tell anyone, but my older preschooler was intrigued, too ;) )

 

Perfect for standing, walking, and sitting in 🙂

 

Simple Toddler Play: My son had a blast with this water balloon sensory bin! (Don't tell anyone, but my older preschooler was intrigued, too ;) )

 

That’s when he decided to mix it up in a way I hadn’t expected.

N climbed up on the bench behind him and looked at me expectantly. When I gave him the sensory bin, he grabbed the water balloons – and decided to push them through the gaps in the seat of the bench!

 

Simple Toddler Play: My son had a blast with this water balloon sensory bin! (Don't tell anyone, but my older preschooler was intrigued, too ;) )

 

He found this really amusing and kept doing it over and over for almost five minutes! I supported his efforts, of course, and kept picking the water balloons up and returning them to the bin 😉

When N was done, I left the water balloon sensory bin on the bench – and wouldn’t you know it, a certain 5-year-old couldn’t resist and played with the water balloons when she got home! Her favorite way of interacting with them was “Drop the water balloons on the ground” 🙂 She did this more times than I would’ve expected and giggled every time. Sometimes, those big kids have a weakness for the simple things in life, too 🙂

 

Simple Toddler Play: My son had a blast with this water balloon sensory bin! (Don't tell anyone, but my older preschooler was intrigued, too ;) )

 

Has your toddler played with water balloons? What did he or she think? Leave a comment below!

 

 

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3 Comments

  1. Beverley Lewin says:

    Your older one could paint with the balloons when she was done dropping them.